Your Change Muscle Needs Daily Exercise

By Meg Underwood

April 23, 2018

Change is not an option. There really is no such thing as standing still. You are either moving forward or backward. As much as we want to savor the moment or hang on to the good ol’ days, it’s just not possible. While change is hard and chaotic, sliding backward is even more painful. Trust us—we’ve seen it happen to many companies (and leaders).

Change Agility is an organizational and individual muscle that we must continually build if we want to enhance our performance, expand our potential, and maximize our possibilities.

So, how can you best exercise that change muscle?

Leverage a daily personal trainer called a catalyst. Catalysts can and should come from a variety of places, including the least expected. Look across your organization (outside your go-to team), within your customer base, inside your industry, and outside your normal circles in a completely unrelated discipline or industry. Catalysts bring a different perspective, challenge thinking, ask new questions, and ultimately create breakthrough moments. This is how your change muscle grows.

Ankura’s biggest catalysts have always been our clients. They have stretched us to be better, think differently, push the bounds of our creativity, and grow. We have changed because they expected it from us. Most of the time, change is driven by an expectation—faster, better, more. It’s important to pay attention to these expectations and then set your sights higher. And then exceed those limits. Again and again.

What’s your change workout regimen? [Note: If it feels like you are never in a rhythm, your change muscle is strong.]